Bush Correct To Veto Bad Bill

July 10, 2004

In the war of wills between the people of Florida and their elected "representatives" in the state Legislature, Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday sided with the people. He vetoed a dishonest bill on pre-kindergarten education that legislators had tried to foist on Floridians.

The bill was the Legislature's insincere attempt to implement a constitutional amendment passed by the voters two years ago. The amendment calls for establishment of "an early childhood development and education program which shall be ... high quality ... and delivered according to professionally accepted standards."

Legislators gave Floridians nothing of the kind. Instead, they passed a watered-down bill that seeks to do pre-K education on the cheap. This penury was necessitated by the Legislature's own orgy of irresponsible tax-cutting in recent years.

Studies show that high-quality pre-K education reduces crime and other social problems. One study from Michigan showed that at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds who were not enrolled in a high-quality pre-K program were five times more likely to become chronic lawbreakers as adults.

Floridians understood this when they passed the constitutional amendment, which applies to 4-year-olds. They understood that paying for such programs now is an investment that reduces social problems and saves money in the long run. They obviously are smarter than the people running the Legislature.

Legislators ignored pedagogical recommendations from experts and instead passed a bill that, among other shortcomings, would not lay out broad goals for what children should learn, would not require college-educated teachers and would not establish standards for student-teacher ratios or school accreditation. It might better be described as a day-care bill than a pre-K bill.

According to the constitutional mandate passed by the voters, a high-quality pre-K education program, which would be voluntary for participants, must begin in the 2005-06 school year. So, there is still time to get it right, and it is the absolute duty of state officials to do so.

In vetoing this bad bill, Bush kept faith with the voters. He now pledges to work with the Legislature to produce a better outcome next year. Had he done that this year, he might have gotten a bill he could be proud to sign. But better late than never.